People are getting stuck on rides at Canada’s Wonderland

BlogTO.com
May 20, 2022

Few things mark the end of a miserable winter in the Toronto area like the re-opening of Canada's Wonderland.

The seasonal theme park has been extra busy for its first full season since the before times, which means a return to funnel cakes, adrenaline rush-inducing thrills, and the occasional terrifying experience on one of the park's many rides.

People on the towering Skyhawk ride got a bigger thrill than they bargained for on Sunday afternoon, when the spinning aircraft ride came to an unexpected halt, leaving riders dangling 135 feet in the air.

A video of the incident has been making the rounds on TikTok, a stark reminder that entertaining thrills often come with the risk of occasional terror.

It's similar to the much-talked-about ride stoppages that happened on The Bat and the Lumberjack ride last summer, while a similar situation played out on the Dragon Fyre coaster back in 2019.

Grace Peacock, Wonderland's Director of Communications, confirmed to blogTO that "On Sunday, May 15 at approximately 2:15 p.m., the ride Skyhawk stopped with guests onboard. They were returned to the ground safely within five minutes and after an inspection by the park maintenance team, the ride was re-opened and operating normally."

Peacock stresses that "Safety is our primary concern, and our rides are inspected and tested daily."

A blog post published by Wonderland last year offers a clearer technical breakdown of why these stoppages occur, explaining that, while they may be scary, an "unexpected ride stoppage is designed to keep riders safe."

"Most rides are built with a computerized control system that monitors the state of the ride such as speed conditions, positions of brakes, pneumatic and/or hydraulic pressures, passenger restraints and other systems related to the safe operation of the ride. If an unexpected condition occurs, the ride will stop itself in a safe way."

The blog post goes on to explain that these stoppages typically only last a few minutes, during which time operating staff will contact maintenance teams to get the ride back up and running, adding that "this is not a malfunction, but rather a safety feature of every ride."

So next time you're dangling a few dozen storeys above a theme park, just remember that your temporary terror is due to a feature, not a bug.